Professor Leor received an M.D. degree from Tel-Aviv University, continued training in cardiovascular medicine at the Sheba Medical Center, and completed his post doctorate training at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, under Robert A. Kloner, M.D., Ph.D.

Today, his laboratory’s research focuses on infarct repair and the heart’s lack of intrinsic regenerative ability. The staff constitutes a multidisciplinary group, working on basic research in molecular biology and gene expression, cell biology, and tissue engineering in mouse, rat and pig models of disease.

Research focuses on the biology of myocardial infarction, both in defining the molecular mechanisms that underlie the infarct healing processes, and in developing molecular and cell-based approaches to improve infarct repair. More specifically, Prof. Leor’s laboratory research involves the following:

Tissue engineering using novel, injectable, bioactive materials and molecules;

Stem cell studies that entail cardiac stem cells, with an aim to develop cellular approaches to regenerate the heart

Reprogramming of cells ex vivo and in situ, by genetic manipulation or growth factors to improve cell infarct healing

Regulation of the heart’s intrinsic repair response, particularly the role of macrophages

Molecular imaging, cell tracking and inflammation in the heart.

Prof Leor is the author and co-author of more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in prestigious journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation and Journal of the American College of Cardiology.